Last week marked the second annual Dark Horse Beefsteak Dinner at McGreivey’s. This laid back beer dinner hasn’t changed much from last year’s event, which is a good thing. The seat price is an absolute steal considering the amount of food, including all you can eat filet, and beer is served at the event. I didn’t have as much freedom to move around to take as many pictures like I did last year so make sure you check out that post with a little more in depth commentary as well.

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Tuesday may have kicked off Saratoga Beer Week but at that night’s Hudson Whiskey & Rye Beer event, the whiskey stole the show. Ryan and Sonja McFadden of Henry Street hosted us while Ralph Erenzo from Tuthilltown Spirits led us through a series of Hudson Whiskey spirits and Jared Kingsley from Remarkable Liquids shared a handful of beers from their portfolio all of which tied rye into the recipe.

Hudson Whiskey is an interesting brand. It started life on farm land in Gardiner, NY owned by Ralph Erenzo, and he has no qualms about telling stories of trials and tribulations of getting production off the ground. Difficulties were met while dealing with uncooperative neighbors who were against the idea of having a distillery nearby, and production issues arose when the honey-melting tank they used to mash their grain lacked a drain, attributing to their unique process of leaving the grains in during fermentation. This gives the final product its signature grainy flavor, a process they still use today.

While still produced by Tuthilltown, the Hudson Whiskey brand is now owned Scotch whisky giant William Grant & Sons, who also own recognizable brands such as Glenfiddich, Balvenie, and The Mcallan. The 375ml wax dipped bottles generate some controversy in the whiskey world as the pricepoint fetches near $80 for its 750ml equivelant, but I assure you, it’s worth the price of admission for a special occassion. Let’s take a look at the whiskies and beer we tried that night.

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On Monday night a whole slew of friends braved the impending “storm” to head out to The City Beer Hall’s Artisanal Beer Dinner (you can check out fellow blogger Kim’s post on dinner here). The storm that night ended up being a dud, but thankfully Chef Dimitrios and his crew, pictured above, put together a dinner and pairings that were anything but.

It’s been a while since my last beer dinner at The City Beer Hall and unlike most of the Wild Game Nights that center around the lineup from a specific brewery, this was open to the full range of offerings from local distributor Remarkable Liquids. It was nice that some limited releases were brought in just for the event and were poured for the first time or not available elsewhere in the state. Let’s take a look at the pairings of the night: Continue reading →

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Having missed the grand opening, last week I got the chance to sit down with Kim from The Simple Treat to check out the latest venture from Vic Chistopher and Heather LaVine: Peck’s Arcade. (If you’ve already read Kim’s post on Peck’s you’ll recognize plenty of these dishes.)

I wanted to clear up some things that I’ve had some friends asking about: Peck’s Arcade is the same space that the Tavern Noodle popup was located, and is what was originally being called The Tavern. Peck’s sounds a little less generic and has a little more personality to the name (and I’m sure will ease some issues with social media and web searches for Vic and Heather). Peck’s is located on the Broadway side of their building near The Grocery, with Collar City Hard Pressed sandwiched between the two. Lastly, just because there is “Arcade” in the name it does not mean there are video games here, sorry. With that out of the way, let’s check out the pics of the night.

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In light of Row 34 grabbing some national attention in the news due to the bombshell article dropped about Jim Koch earlier this week, I figured it was a good time to share a few snaps from my experience there a couple of weeks ago. Not gonna get too wordy with this one, but let’s dive into the pics.

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The Tavern is another new space being renovated by all star team Vic Christopher and Heather LeVine of Lucas Confectionary and The Grocery fame. They’re making a ton of progress, and while it’s not quite finished yet, they opened the doors during this weekend’s Victorian Stroll to offer something I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time: a pop up ramen shop they called Tavern Noodle. Let’s take a look.

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I had the opportunity to stop into The Shop during their soft opening this week with JVS and Kevin from Rare Form. The owner, Kevin Blodgett, sat down with us for a beer and while we shared some plates and even Nick from The Confectionary hung out for a few rounds as well. This was one of those unexpected, innocent Monday nights that snowballed into a ridiculously good time. Let’s take a quick look at the pics.